The traditional model of the NHS has to change if it is to continue to provide the best care for patients at the same time as maintaining its fundamental value of providing free care to all, the UK health secretary argued in a speech this week designed to quell alarm about threats of hospital closures.

The secretary of state for health in England, Patricia Hewitt, said that the traditional model of district general hospitals, which provide a range of care under one roof, was outdated. She argued that the next stage of development of the NHS was to put more power in the hands of patients and …